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In some respects, the Gulf of Mexico may be less fragile than many people feared in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

A team of scientists from Florida A&M and Florida State universities, joined by graduate students at each school, has been examining the methane released during the oil spill, which made up about one-third of the hydrocarbon issued from the well head in the summer of 2010. The methane, or natural gas, could have been expected to pour into the atmosphere where it could have polluted the air over the Gulf.